The CrossFit REGIONALS season has been upon us over the past 3 weeks and has come to an end as of yesterday.
8 REGIONS around the world battled it out to find the FITTEST men, women, and teams who will travel to the CROSSFIT GAMES in Carson, Ca in July.

There have been SEVERAL upsets, several surprises, several successes, several failures, and A LOT of lessons learned by many athletes who compete at this level.

Having competed at the REGIONAL level, as well as watching REGIONAL competition for the past 5 years I've been involved in CrossFit, I am still in awe at the ever evolving level of athleticism that is shown at these competitions. The competitors keep getting bigger, stronger, faster! It's no longer uncommon to see athletes snatch over 250#, rip through 15 ring muscle ups unbroken, handstand walk 150' at a time, blow through chipper workouts consisting of 400+ repetitions in under short time caps.....etc.

While we sit and watch these amazing human specimens perform at elite levels, we also witness some subpar movement mechanics and potentially dangerous positions that put the body at extreme risk for injury. Do these athletes know this, of course, they are competitors. They are putting it all on the line for potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money and a podium spot in Carson at The GAMES. Does this mean that if a you, the stay at home mom, CPA, nurse, or young college student who wants to be fit for everyday life, should compromise your technique and/or position when trying to PR on your "RANDY" time? Hopefully you understand that the answer should be NO!

There is a HUGE difference from CrossFit the SPORT and CrossFit the TRAINING PROGRAM.

Last year, we wrote a blog topic on "Training vs. Testing". You can read it by clicking here if you missed it. We can take this topic a step further as it relates to your personal goals. Are you training for the CrossFit GAMES? If the answer is no, then I would argue that it's not necessary for you to have a sub 4min RANDY time using subpar mechanics. Why risk blowing your back out if you just want to be fit and healthy for life? Is it useful for your fitness to be able to execute a snatch period, sure, but not necessary. Do you NEED to do 15 muscle ups unbroken? Again, I would argue that for general fitness, no, you don't. Would it be cool, sure! Snatching your bodyweight+ is cool too! But, if you don't need these for competition purposes, it would make more sense to snatch as much as possible with PERFECT mechanics, to execute a ring muscle up or 3 with strict movement, to do an unweighted walking lunge without compromise in form. Can you move your own body around with PERFECT mechanics? If not, that's a PERFECT goal to obtain for someone wanting to be fit and healthy for life.

Let me see you air squat perfect, pushup from your toes perfect, pull your own bodyweight up to the pullup bar w/out over-extending through your spine...........it then will make sense to strive for bigger goals that align with your personal FITNESS JOURNEY!

But when do we add intensity? When do I push myself so hard I puke in the bushes?? The answer is different for everyone. Do we need to push our limits so our bodies can adapt and become stronger? Yes. If that aligns with your goals. But please remember, your personal "limits", may look different than what you witness on a REGIONAL highlight video ;)

In conclusion, at CrossFit Five Cities, we strive everyday to help everyone become better versions of themselves. We want to guide you towards success in your own personal FITNESS JOURNEY! We want to help you move with great form and body mechanics so that we can help you lift more, jump higher, run faster and overall become more awesome! Don't get caught up in the hype of how you see a high level competitor execute a movement, or how fast they crush a workout. Stay on track with your personal goals, take it one step at a time, and remember, FITNESS is a journey, not a destination!